A Glimpse of Glory
by dragonfly42pf
Summary: Walter leaned against the wall, breathing heavily, allowing the backpack to rest at his feet for a moment. He needed anything to clear his head. But his brain just wasn't cooperating. Waige fluff with some light sauce eventually.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi!**

 **Ahem. This is not the meaty plot-twisting story that I alluded to at the end of PB II…I'm really trying to put that one together, but all the research involved in save-the-world plots is pretty extensive and leaves me feeling uninspired. Only 800 words into that one, but major props to those writers on ffn who have successfully created multi-chapter stories like that. I really am in awe of you! In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this little story. It's pure fluff and rated T for now.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own any little bit of Scorpion.**

 **This story is set at some point during season 3? Tim is not in the picture and Walter and Paige have gone back to their normal, awkward denial at prospects of couplehood.**

 **A Glimpse of Glory**

Walter leaned against the wall, breathing heavily, allowing the backpack to rest at his feet for a moment. He squeezed his eyes shut, but the vivid images replayed themselves as if on loop in his mind and he forced his eyelids to open again, searching for an object to focus on. The elevator button, an artificial potted plant in the corner, the shiny penny someone had left behind on the tan carpet. Anything. He needed anything to clear his head. But his brain just wasn't cooperating.

 _Ralph._

He needed to get to Ralph who was still waiting for him. Oh God, how was he going to face the boy after what he had just seen?

Walter managed to slow his breathing and scooped up the bag. He straightened. Ralph was expecting him to return. He needed to get it together.

-oooo-

 _Earlier…._

Paige hummed to herself as she pushed her front door closed with her hip, her hands filled with several bags of groceries. "Ralph? I'm home. Are you just about ready?" Now that Ralph was getting a little older, and had proven on several occasions to be more competent than the sitters she'd been hiring, Paige felt comfortable leaving him alone for short periods. She never left for more than an hour at a time and made certain her cell phone was set to obnoxious in case he needed her, but she was enjoying a little freedom as she indulged in solo trips to the bank, grocery store, or to pick-up dinner on the nights she didn't have time to cook, to save a little money on delivery fees.

As Paige set the grocery bags down on a small table next to the door and hung her keys on the wall hook, she called to Ralph again. "Ralph? Walter will be here any minute. Can you answer me, please?"

Ralph stuck his head out of his bedroom with a grin on his face. "I'm just finishing packing. I'm almost ready mom!" His head disappeared and Paige smiled to herself. He was so excited to be spending the night at the garage with Walter and Sylvester. They were going to be recording something or other during a meteor shower with a new DSLR camera that Sylvester had. Ever since Megan had passed, photography had become somewhat of a hobby for Sly. Paige suspected that he was deeply grateful for the pictures he had taken of her before she died and photography now helped to fill a bit of that void. At any rate, the three of them would be camping out on the roof tonight. She shook her head as she finished putting the perishables in the refrigerator. She couldn't quite picture Sylvester "camping," even if it was just on the roof of the garage. She wondered if he knew the details of their meteorological adventure tonight.

She had offered to drop Ralph off at the garage, but Walter had insisted on picking him up, pointing out that her condo was on the way to the REI store where he would be purchasing the tent they'd be using for the night and that if he picked up Ralph first, he could help him pick it out.

She paused in her unpacking as she heard a knock at the door. Ralph came racing out of his room, nearly knocking his mother over as he rushed to let Walter in. "Hey buddy," she heard from the kitchen and walked out to see Walter smiling down at Ralph as her son beamed up at him. It melted her heart, as the sight of the two of them together often did. Walter looked up at her, and noticed her eyes looked watery. Misunderstanding the reason for her almost tears, he offered, "Are you sure you don't want to join us tonight?"

When he had originally suggested the roof camp out during the meteor shower, he had assumed it would be just the three of them – Ralph, Paige and himself. The thought of sleeping in the same space with her, even with a twelve year old likely asleep between them, still created currents he didn't fully understand to course through his body. When Sylvester overheard and asked if he could come too, quickly starting to explain to Ralph how the intervalometer on his new camera would allow them to potentially take time-lapse photos of the meteors, Walter knew he didn't have the heart to tell him no. Paige had responded by saying it sounded like a guys' night and politely declined the invitation for herself. As much as she knew she would have truly enjoyed the evening of star-gazing, especially in the company of a certain curly haired genius, she wanted Ralph to experience some male bonding. Well, at least the kind of male bonding that would likely occur between the three geniuses.

And if she was being completely honest with herself, she was looking forward to a little alone time. At the store she had picked out a new shade of nail polish, some bubble bath, four fashion magazines and a bottle of Pinot. All of these combined with some guilty pleasure romantic comedies courtesy of Netflix, and she had an evening of "me time" she was looking forward to indulging in.

Paige shook her head. "I am sure. Sounds like you guys have some big plans for the night, and I have a few plans of my own."

"Oh?" Walter started. "Big date?" he questioned, hoping fervently that her answer was no, failing in his attempt to force an air of nonchalance. He knew he should want her to be happy, but the thought of her in another man's company quickly made Walter's mood decline.

"Hardly," Paige scoffed. "Just me and a bubble bath and some-" Paige stopped as Walter had visibly tensed. She placed her hand on his arm, "Hey," she cocked her head. "Are you ok?"

Paige couldn't know a bath was one of his fantasies about her, and he cursed inwardly at himself for being so transparent. He didn't know why it was a bubble bath he'd conjured in his mind, the use of that much soap being highly inefficient, but he liked to picture her, all of her, just out of sight under a layer of bubbles, and then imagine her slowly emerging from them, over to him. _Oh God._ He needed to stop this train of thought. He couldn't speak for a moment as he watched her face, eyebrows arched in concern, waiting for a response, soaking in her hold on his arm.

Ralph was the one to break the tension.

"Can we go?" he begged impatiently, looking at the weird exchange between his mother and Walter.

"Yes!" Walter quickly responded, determined to return to the task at hand.

"Wait, just one second," Paige said, dropping her hand and returning her attention to the remaining grocery sacks that still needed to be emptied. "Here," she offered, rearranging the items that remained to put together one bag that contained only three items. "Graham crackers, chocolate bars and marshmallows." Walter stared at her blankly. "Come on," she laughed. What's a campout without some s'mores?" Ralph tugged on Walter's sleeve. "I'll explain it to you on the way to the car. Can we go?" he asked anxiously again. Paige lovingly ran her hand through her son's hair. "I guess someone's a little excited for the evening's festivities," she giggled, then knelt to him. "Do you have everything? Toothbrush, pj's-"

"MOM! I'm quite prepared!" Ralph rolled his eyes and wiggled away from her, towards Walter.

Paige sighed and stood. The teenage years were going to be interesting ones. She eyed the small bag in his hand that appeared to only have his tablet, courtesy of Walter, and his telescope, and wondered how he managed to fit in the essentials she had just mentioned _and_ a change of clothes for the next day, but decided to keep quiet, determined to raise a young man who planned, and could pack a bag without the assistance of his mother (or in Drew's case, girlfriend). She reminded herself that the garage was only a 15 minute car ride away and if he didn't brush his teeth for one night or had to sleep in his own clothes, it wasn't the end of the world, and might help him plan more efficiently in the future.

Paige stood and sighed, looking back to Walter. "Ok, so instructions," she paused to brush an imaginary piece of something from his shoulder. She so enjoyed touching him, and loved that he didn't tense nearly as much as he used to when she initiated contact. He'd even started to reciprocate on occasion, small pats on the back or shoulder, and once even moving her hair away from her face. Each time, she'd nearly convulsed on the spot, but managed to keep what she hoped was a reserved façade on the outside. Even with him becoming accustomed to her minor advances, she still reveled how his brown eyes would widen and the deep breath he'd inhale each time it happened. " _Maybe, just maybe, he feels this too,"_ she allowed herself to hope.

"Nine o'clock is Ralph's usual bedtime-" Ralph started to protest, "BUT," she quickly inserted, giving Ralph a little bit of a raised eyebrow before continuing, "I understand these are special circumstances. Tonight, if you make sure he eats dinner, brushes his teeth, and gets at least 6 hours of sleep, I'll be a happy mama." Paige bent down so she was face level with Ralph. "Don't get used to it," she teased, poking a finger at his nose and then pulled him in for a brief hug.

"Thanks, mom! See you tomorrow!" Ralph said as he squirmed away. And with that, he ran out the door.

Walter chuckled as Paige straightened and sighed. "Call me if you need to, ok?" she said.

"Of course," Walter replied. "And we'll call you in the morning too to let you know when we're up and about." He paused. "M-maybe we could all get breakfast?" he added, hopefully.

Paige beamed. "Sounds perfect. Have fun tonight." She almost reached up to give him a quick peck on the cheek, but thought better of it and simply put her hand lightly on his arm and gave it a gentle squeeze. Walter gave her a smile and a nod and walked out the door.

Paige took a breath and grabbed another sack of groceries before heading back toward the kitchen. She wondered if she and Walter would ever find a comfort zone that wasn't tinged with awkwardness and hesitation.

 **More coming really soon! I would love to hear any reviews you might have. They mean so very much.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter "2"

 **Thank you to those who are reading and even bigger thanks to those who reviewed! I really should have posted these two chapters as one, but I hadn't published in so long that I just wanted to get something up last night. Forgive me? Hopefully this completes the first chapter a little better. Think of it as Chapter 1.5. It continues with "Earlier" and ends where we found poor Walter at the beginning of the first chapter.**

-oooo-

Several hours later, Walter and Ralph were back in his car, after perusing the overwhelming variety of tents, and had finally agreed on the perfect one. They had debated over many of their features; aluminum verses fiberglass poles, adequate rainfly and tub floor, but had finally settled on one that would sleep three, (Walter was pretty sure Sylvester would refuse to spend the night out on the actual roof, but was secretly hoping that he, Ralph and Paige would use the tent in the future) and was the right price. After purchasing the tent, he was pretty sure that he'd been hoodwinked by Ralph to check out a place, "right down the highway," which turned out to be almost 20 minutes out of the way, in order to "just look" at some new attachments for Ralph's telescope. The boy's enthusiasm and puppy dog eyes made Walter eager to please him and happily purchase some new equipment, and he hoped he wouldn't get into too much trouble with Paige for indulging him again. He couldn't help it. Seeing Ralph happy made him happy too.

Ralph was currently engrossed between reading the instructions that came with both the tent and his new accessories, insisting that he'd be finished by the time they reached the garage, maximizing the set up time for both. He'd expressed some frustration in not being able to access the directions on his tablet, since Walter's car was currently without wifi capability He had two enormous sheets of unfolded paper draped over the dashboard and his lap. As they sat in some of LA's finest traffic, Walter attempted to engage Ralph in conversation.

"So, how do you feel about ordering pizza, then setting up all of this stuff, eating dinner and then brushing our teeth and getting into pajamas as per your mom's instructions? That way, it won't matter how late we stay up - everything on her list will be taken care of until the morning," Walter suggested to Ralph.

Ralph suddenly looked up from the directions he appeared to be simultaneously reading. "Oops," he simply stated.

"Ralph, don't worry if you see inconsistencies in the instructions; they are almost never accurate. In fact, we likely don't even need them," Walter stated.

Ralph shook his head. "No," he began, "the 'oops' was because I realized I left my other backpack at home. I was so focused on the telescope and stuff that I forgot about the bag mom helped me start packing last night." He shrugged. "I finished packing my clothes, but it's hanging on the back of my bedroom doorknob right now." He went back to the directions. "It's not really a big deal. I can sleep in what I'm wearing."

Walter turned on his directional signal and started heading to the right lane so he could take the next exit. "No problem, buddy," he said, ignoring a honk as he cut two lanes at once. "We are not too far from your place, so we'll stop back in and grab what you need, okay?" Upon hearing no response, Walter glanced at the boy who was already reabsorbed into the manuals. "Ralph?" he prompted. "Just send your mom a text so she knows we're heading her way, ok?"

-ooooo-

Two hours after the boys had left, Paige was basking in having the place to herself, already enjoying a glass of wine, a bowl of popcorn, and a pretty terrible movie. She was loving every minute of it. When the credits started to roll, she stood and stretched. She wondered what her men were up to and resisted the urge to send an intrusive text message. It was just starting to get dark out. "A perfect time for a bath," she thought to herself, pouring another glass of the pinot. She pulled out some scented candles she never used from a container in the hall closet and placed them artfully around her bathroom. She set her phone to play an album of Ella Fitzgerald torch songs on high volume from a blue tooth speaker in her bedroom and began lighting the candles.

Old love songs made her think of Walter. She was a little worried that he might not have a romantic bone in his body, but she smiled thinking about Megan's revelation to him about how big his heart was. That, Paige didn't doubt for a moment. She turned on the tub to regulate the water, then pulled her hair up into a sloppy bun on top of her head. She began to undress, wishing Walter was here with her to help her do the job and once she was completely naked, she allowed herself to wrap her arms around her torso and squeezed a small hug, imagining her hands were his. _"Never gonna happen, Paige,"_ she reminded herself, and she tested the water and plugged the drain.

She reached for the lavender scented bubble bath she'd just purchased a few hours ago, when she realized – it was still on the table by the front door. Paige was not in the habit of walking around her home naked. She was far too modest to do so even if she didn't have to worry about embarrassing Ralph. But now that she was alone, for the first time in a long time, she couldn't help but saunter out of the bathroom and proudly swing open her bedroom door as she crooned along with Ella and strolled out of her bedroom and down the hallway in all her glory to retrieve the forgotten bubble bath.

-ooo-

Ten minutes earlier, Walter had pulled up to Paige's condo and waited for Ralph to hop out to retrieve his overnight bag, but the young genius, who had moved on to examining the new accessories for his telescope didn't even stir.

"Uh, Ralph? We're here. Go grab your bag, ok?" Walter attempted to get his attention, but received no response.

"Ralph," he tried again.

Finally Ralph gave a bit of an exasperated sigh and looked up. "Walter, if I go in, mom will go on and on about how I'm not listening to her anymore."

This had been a frequent lecture series in the Dineen household as of late. Ralph had tried explaining to his mother that he often had a more pressing tasks to attend to other than the chores, for example, that she required of him, but for some reason Ralph couldn't understand, that seemed to alienate his mother more. They had reached a sort of compromise. His mom had remained firm on her list of expectations he needed to accomplish to help out around the house, but allowed Ralph to exercise some "creative efficiency" in terms of how or when that project was completed. Ralph was relatively certain however, based on the number of times she had reminded him to prepare an overnight bag, that another lecture was bound to ensue. Ralph was hoping to avoid another speech and quickly evaluated his options. He figured Walter would want to see him mom again anyway. Those two were always creating unnecessary scenarios in order to spend time together. Not that he minded. He liked feeling like he was part of a conventional family and pretending Walter was his dad. As Ralph pleaded for Walter to go up to the condo instead, he assured himself it was for Walter's benefit as much as his.

Walter quickly agreed, leaving Ralph chuckling to himself and shaking his head as he turned back to his new present. Grown-ups were so weird. And so easily manipulated. Even genius grown-ups sometimes.

Walter wasn't sure if he was supposed to leave the car running so Ralph could continue to enjoy the air conditioning, or to park the car in a space and crack the window. _Wait. That was for dogs._ He finally decided to pull into a parking spot, leaving the car running, and pulling the starter off of his key ring to stay with Ralph. He instructed the boy to lock the doors and began to make his way toward their condo. He paused and jogged back over to Ralph's window. He knocked.

"You let your mom know we were stopping by, right Ralph?" he inquired as Ralph lowered the window an inch.

Ralph quickly returned to the pieces in his lap. "She, uh…didn't respond," he said vaguely and put the window back up.

Walter pondered this for a moment and decided no response was really warranted, and he turned to continue his mission to retrieve Ralph's backpack.

-oooo-

When Walter reached the door, he ran his hands through his hair and straightened his shirt before knocking.

No answer.

He knocked again and waited.

Nothing.

He put his ear to the door. He could hear music and the sound of running water. He stepped back. She must be taking the bath she had mentioned earlier. He allowed himself another quick fantasy of her soaking in the tub before slowly moving the key Paige had given him for emergency purposes toward the lock. He supposed he could try pounding on the door, but he didn't want to cause any commotion for the neighbors, nor did he want to interrupt the relaxing bubble bath she so richly deserved. He would be in and out. He knew exactly where Ralph had left his bag. She would never need to know that he was even there.

He inserted the key and turned it in the lock, feeling the click and slowly rotating the doorknob in his other hand. "Paige?" he called again as the door opened, but he only heard water and music at a louder volume now that the sounds weren't muffled by the door, and so he cautiously entered.

It was now nearly dark outside. A lone lamp was on in the living area, but other than that, the only illumination he could detect was a faint flicker under what he assumed was Paige's bedroom's closed door. He quietly shut the front door behind him and stealthily crept toward Ralph's room, directly across the hall from Paige's. He'd been in the Dineen home exactly 9 times, but had only ever been in the living area, kitchenette, hall bathroom, and Ralph's room.

The boy's bedroom door was open. Walter entered without turning on the light. He reached around to the back of the door to the knob where the backpack hung, just as Ralph had described. He stood there for a moment and listened to Paige's beautiful voice sing along to a ballad he didn't recognize. _God, he loved the sound of her voice._ He stood there for a few moments more before feeling guilty of intruding on her private time. He shook himself and prepared to exit, when suddenly the door to Paige's bedroom flew open.

Walter was certain his heart and every other organ in his body stopped functioning.

Paige was completely naked.

He knew he had fast reflexes. Those reflexes had been tested many times when they were on dangerous missions. He'd dived for cover to narrowly dodge a bullet. He'd jumped onto a speeding train, managing to hurl himself into the train car to avoid being crushed by a cement wall at the last second. He should certainly be capable of turning away or at the very least closing his eyes, but in this moment, his whole body was completely frozen. He wasn't even breathing.

She didn't linger in her doorway and was still singing as she padded down the hallway. As Walter began to recover, he realized that for one of the first times in his life, he had absolutely no idea what to do. If he moved, he might reveal his presence, frightening Paige and embarrassing them both. If he stayed, he should at the very least close his eyes to preserve any morsel of decency that remained in him, along with her modesty. While he was internally debating, there she was again, this time pausing with her bare backside to him and inhaling the scent of whatever she was holding in her hands before turning around and closing her bedroom door behind her, still wearing nothing but a relaxed smile on her lips.

 _She looks like an angel._

Walter waited another moment, desperately trying to regain his composure. He was sweating. He was cursing his eidetic memory for the first time in his genius life, knowing the vision of her flawless, naked body would never leave him. How was he ever going to look her in the eye again?

The sound of the water slowing to a trickle was enough to make him convince his muscles to heed his desire to get out of there as quickly and quietly as humanly possible. She could never know that he had just witnessed the most beautiful sight of his life.

He ran down the short hallway.

Never had he moved so fast.

-ooo-

 **Next up: Either a very awkward breakfast, or a cancellation of it altogether on Walter's part and some major avoidance of Paige at work next week. I'd love to hear thoughts and ideas! Reviews make my heart happy too. Thanks for reading!**


	3. Chapter 3

**AGOG Chapter 3**

 **Thank you for reading and reviewing! I had actually been thinking Walter would cancel their breakfast plans, but so many requested an awkward breakfast that I decided to try it! Hope I did it justice. It was fun to write, though some of it feels a little trite and contrived. Feel free to keep sharing your ideas with me! I was inspired by many of your suggestions!**

The night hadn't been as excruciating as Walter had feared. True, he'd been nearly mute in the car ride from the Dineen condo back to the garage, but Ralph was still absorbed in his new telescope accessories and didn't seem to notice. Once they were in the garage for their "guys' night," as Paige had described it, he had plenty to distract him; getting the tent set up, ordering pizza, and listening to Sylvester and Ralph animatedly inspect each other's new equipment. By the time the meteor shower rolled around, Walter was focused on almost nothing but the sky and Sly and Ralph, and was able to mostly push any inappropriate thoughts out of his mind.

When he awoke the next morning, Ralph had already vacated the tent. As predicted, Sylvester had opted to sleep somewhere in the garage instead of braving "the great outdoors." Walter stretched as he recalled the awesome display of meteors. The three of them agreed on a calculated average of 43 meteors per hour, which was pretty spectacular considering they were still with in the confines of the city. Ralph had quickly determined his telescope was limiting his scope of view, but still enjoyed helping Sly with his DSLR lens and discussing the astronomy, geology and meteorology with his two mentors. By 3am, he had finally tuckered out, and Walter had placed him in his spare sleeping bag inside the tent, whispering a good night to him and a reminder that they would see his mom for breakfast the next-

Walter sat bolt upright in the tent, suddenly recalling the full events of the previous evening. He was momentarily grateful for his solitude so he could press his hands against his face, and coax himself out of hyperventilating in privacy.

Paige had been buck-naked.

He had seen her – _all of her._

She had absolutely no idea.

She had been more goddess-like than any of the former fantasies he had conjured. Walter didn't believe he had a creative side, but when it came to dreaming, day or night, about Paige, he had no difficulty summoning inventive scenarios of the two of them being intimate. The bath was a favorite, but, he was loath to admit, so was his desk, his bed of course, the couch in the loft, and the very roof on which he sat. He ran his hands through his hair, trying to get a grip. Oh God, they were supposed to have breakfast together. Probably at Kovelsky's. Kovelsky's wasn't far from the beach. Skinny-dipping in the ocean, _(ok, in his first fantasy, it was a secluded lake)_ was another of his favorite daydreams. He allowed himself to indulge in a vision of her removing a strapless bikini. The top the first to go, shortly followed by the bottoms, while she convinced him no one was watching and coaxed him out of his shorts and ran into the ocean, where he quickly followed and-

 _BREAKFAST!_

He had promised Paige that Ralph would eat something. And although the three of them had polished off two pizzas over several hours the night before, he had suggested breakfast this morning.

He needed to get out of it.

There was no way he was ready to face her. He straightened and exited the tent and began to make his way downstairs.

Sylvester was nowhere to be seen and Ralph was lounging on the sofa with his legs hanging off the arm, engrossed in his tablet. Upon seeing Walter, he moved his tablet to the side of his face and said, "Thank god! I'm starving!"

"Do you want some cereal, buddy?" Walter started. "We might want to let your mom sleep in—"

"Walter. It's 9:30. She never sleeps that late. Besides, I want pancakes and you probably do too. I texted her that we'd meet her at Kovelsky's at 10:00. I was just about to wake you, although you never sleep this late either…" Ralph closed whatever he was looking at on the tablet. "Are you feeling ill?"

"I'm fine," Walter managed, trying to determine any scenario in which he might be able to back out of the breakfast. Car trouble? Maybe Ralph's question wasn't a bad suggestion. If he was feeling ill, he could go up and hide in the loft and just have Paige pick him up. Then he wouldn't have to face her until tomorrow at work.

"She texted back," Ralph said, returning his attention to his device. "She's looking forward to breakfast with the four of us. I didn't tell her Sylvester left early this morning to catch the first possible bus." Ralph rolled his eyes. "He wanted to wash off any bug repellent from last night in his own shower. So that means, it's just the three of us!" Although Ralph kept his attention on the screen in front of him, his face lit up and he emitted a happy sigh.

"K," was all Walter was able to respond with. He quickly moved up the stairs to the loft to take a very cold shower and maybe literally slap some sense into himself if it came down to it.

-ooo-

Walter's gaze was resolutely fixed on the door to the diner as he and Ralph waited for Paige to arrive. He had suggested to Ralph that they should sit at the counter, where he wouldn't have to gaze at her directly, but the boy had opted for a booth instead.

Walter was sweating profusely and he was sure he wouldn't be able to take a single bite of whatever breakfast he ordered. Ralph was attempting to show him some of the digital time-lapse photos Sylvester had sent to him when she walked in the door to the diner.

Naked.

Of course Paige wasn't actually parading into Kovelsky's in the buff, but that's all that Walter's brain could process. A slight bob of her soft round breasts as she strolled in, the seductive sway of her bare hips, her slender legs that appeared even longer now, all sauntered toward them, seemingly in agonizingly slow motion.

Walter grabbed his menu and stood abruptly.

"Hi!" Paige ventured cheerfully. "How was your night?"

Walter held the menu sideways, allowing all of its folded laminated inserts to open and expand and thrust it towards her torso, covering all of the sights he needed to be unseen at the moment. Paige gave him a bewildered expression as she accepted the menu and removed her sunglasses.

"N-n-nude menu," Walter stuttered. He froze. _I did not just say that._ "NEW MENU!" he nearly shouted.

"Oh-kay," Paige punctuated quizzically and lowered herself next to Ralph who began the slide show of pictures for her all over again.

Walter vaguely registered Paige asking her son about the meteor shower and inquiring where Sylvester was this morning and he tried in vain to look anywhere but in her direction. Their waitress, "Kelly" came over to pour Paige some coffee when Paige jumped out of the booth to give a hug to her former colleague, giving Walter another glimpse of her adorable derrière.

As the two chatted, Walter wondered when he started using words like "angel," and "goddess" and even thinking of her hot ass as an "adorable derrière" for god's sake. For a man who firmly believed he had no spiritual inclinations, he had no idea why those were some of the first descriptions that popped into his logically driven brain. He'd never spent a lot of time creating ways to describe a woman's body, even Paige's, in the past. Words he would have used would have been akin to describing someone to a sketch artist for homeland; height, weight, ethnicity, hair color… but now he realized how surprised he was at his initial thoughts about her body, now that he'd glimpsed it. His words for Paige were almost, _he scoffed at the thought_ , artful. She, all of her, inside and out, was simply beautiful to him. It started to occur to him that beauty couldn't be characterized in logical, rational terms. But that thought quickly dissipated as he tuned into the conversation and began organizing the sugar packets on the table to distract his gaze.

"So I hear you guys finally have a new menu?" Paige asked her friend. Kelly looked at her strangely.

"No dear. Same food we've been serving since before you even got here." She cocked her head. I guess that means I know what you'll be having – strawberries and whipped cream over pancakes!?"

Paige laughed. "You know me so well! I was going to just have a fruit cup, _bbuuut_ whipped cream is one of my weaknesses. And I haven't had any in a really long time, so – why not!? And coffee too please," she added. She folded the menu she had still been holding and handed it to Kelly before sitting down as the waitress took the other orders. Walter opted for dry toast. He really didn't think he'd even be able to get that down.

"Hey." Paige placed her hand over Walter's as he continued to fiddle with the condiments on the table. "Are you ok?" she asked.

"Yes," he replied tersely, snatching his hand away and putting it on his lap. There. Now she couldn't touch him. He kept his gaze on the table.

 _"_ _What's gotten into him?"_ Paige wondered. She decided to give him the space he clearly needed as she returned her attention to her son.

As Ralph rattled off a minute-by-minute itinerary of their night, Walter found his gaze wandering over to Paige and dared a peek at her chest. His limited experience with women had led him to attempt to avoid any body parts that intimidated him. This unfortunately had ruled out pretty much all of the female anatomy. But Paige's breasts, which he again, could only process as unclothed in front of him, looked so inviting. He wondered how they would feel under his palms, what it would be like to wrap his lips around a nipple and what her reaction would be like if he did that. Would she moan? Would she whimper? Would she whisper his name or shout it out? How would she-

"Walter!" Paige snapped. _Was he really just staring at her chest?_ His eyes went wide and flitted to hers for the briefest moment before looked away and quickly busied himself with pulling too many napkins out of the dispenser and arranging them on his lap.

Paige looked down at her blouse. "Do I have something on my shirt?" she asked. It was really the only plausible explanation she could think of for Walter O'Brien leering at her. Finding nothing on the fabric, she wondered if perhaps he had just been checking her out. She flushed a little and hoped it was true, even if her feminist side knew she should probably be a little offended.

When breakfast was served, that was the next form of torture for Walter. Paige just kept gushing about how "deliciously sinful" her pancakes were. She kept making contented sighs with each bite and even tilted her head back in pleasure as she wrapped her lips around a cream covered strawberry. Walter's toast was completely untouched.

He reached his limit when she dipped her finger into some whipped cream that had slid off the side of her short stack and placed the finger directly into her mouth, actually wiggling in delight as she licked her finger clean.

 _Oh god._ His mind was completely in the gutter right now. _When had breakfast become a big sexual innuendo?_ He had to get out of there.

He stood abruptly, sending the tiny napkins he had attempted to position on his lap earlier onto the table, booth and floor. Paige and Ralph looked at him expectantly.

"I am feeling a little nauseated," he blurted out. _Ok, that really wasn't a lie at all._ "I am leaving."

Paige immediately stood up. "I thought you seemed off today. Do you have a fever?" She placed her hand on his forehead. He jerked away so violently, he actually backed into Kelly who was wielding a large tray of breakfast juices and entrees that went crashing to the floor and covered several startled customers. Paige immediately turned and went to help Kelly up, bending over directly in front of Walter. _Oh god._ He knew he should stay and clean up. He knew he should apologize. He knew at the very least he should throw some money on the table to pay for breakfast. But he couldn't. He could barely even breathe right now. He bolted.

When Paige had enlisted Ralph to help Kelly and her clean everything up, apologized repeatedly on Walter's behalf, and offered to pay for any replacement meals, she sat down next to Ralph in the booth and looked at him.

"Was Walter feeling ok last night? Did something happen?" she asked, putting her hand to Ralph's forehead to make sure he wasn't coming down with whatever Walter had.

Ralph just shrugged his shoulders. "He seemed fine to me."

Paige frowned at her son's lack of elaboration, but wasn't surprised. His temperature felt normal, so that was good at least.

"Well, are you ready to head home?" she asked starting to scoot out of the booth.

"Yeah. Although all of my stuff is in Walter's car," Ralph responded.

"Ok honey, we'll swing by the garage and get it. That way we can check on Walter too."

 **I sure would love it if you reviewed! Thanks for reading!**


	4. Chapter 4

**AGOG Chapter 4**

 **This chapter is mostly Paige's POV on the next scene. It's more angsty, and less humorous than the previous chapters. Looking at most likely a total of 7 chapters with frequent updates this week.**

After day three of the nearly silent treatment, Paige was frustrated. Ok, more than frustrated. She had lost her patience and was fluctuating between pissed off and hurt. Communication and helping the team translate their emotions were supposed to be areas of her expertise, but no matter what tactics she had tried to employ, Walter had refused to even look at her, much less open up about whatever was eating him.

When she and Ralph went back to the garage on Sunday to gather his things from the previous night, she had simply found his two bags neatly arranged on her desk. She had gone up to the loft to check on Walter to see if she could get him anything and was met with a locked door and a lame response about being fine, but potentially contagious, so she and Ralph should just leave. They honored his request, but the mother in her couldn't help but send a few text messages throughout the day to see if he was feeling any better or offering to come over with gingerale and saltines. Her first two texts went unanswered. The last one was curt:

 _Am fine. Trying to sleep._

And so she took the hint.

Monday had been a slow day at Scorpion, giving Sylvester plenty of time to sanitize every surface their leader may have come in contact with in the last 72 hours (he factored in the incubation period for the average flu) after Paige told the team Walter was under the weather. Walter spent most of the day up in the loft and when he finally descended he insisted he was "fine" and became quickly engrossed in his computer. He didn't engage in conversation with anyone and disappeared back up to his quarters when Ralph came in after school.

On Tuesday morning, Paige had arrived to somewhat organized chaos after dropping off Ralph. A case had already been presented to Walter and he was barking snippy orders to the already assembled team. They clearly had already been working for a few hours. She had glanced at her watch; she wasn't late.

"Why did everyone get here so early?" she had warily asked Happy who was occupied with a circuit board and some tools Paige thought looked almost surgical in nature.

"Walt texted everyone at 6am to let us know we caught a case and needed to get our asses in here," she glanced at Paige. "Didn't you get the message?" she asked before returning to her project.

"No, I didn't," Paige muttered as she walked away attempting not to feel a little left out. She pulled her phone out of her purse to double check her messages. Nothing from Walter since Sunday. She walked immediately over to Walter whose eyes again, remained fixed on the screen in front of him.

"Sorry. I guess I'm late. I didn't get your message," she stated flatly. "Can you catch me up to speed?"

Even though she was losing her patience with him, she couldn't help but notice he was wearing her favorite dark blue button-up shirt. His lack of tie allowed her a glimpse of the very top of his chest and she deduced he wasn't wearing an undershirt beneath. Her favorite fantasies of Walter always involved her very slowly unbuttoning his shirt, and immediately running her hands over his bare chest, reveling in what she imagined would be his warm, smooth skin. She had taken to assessing his undershirt status on a daily basis and always felt a little flushed on the days he opted not to wear one.

Today however, was clearly not going to be one of those days.

Walter continued typing as he gruffly responded, "I didn't send you a text, because you're not needed for this portion of the case. In fact, you sh-should just take the day off." He stood up abruptly and swiftly moved over to Sylvester who was also furiously typing away. Paige noticed he chose to stand to Sly's left side, seeming to strategically place himself as far away from her as possible, with Sylvester as a buffer between them.

She paused for a moment, trying very hard not to be offended. "It's ok," she called over. I'll just catch up on paperwork and then do some grocery shopping so I can make you guys lunch." Sylvester gave her a polite smile and nod while Walter ignored her completely. Paige walked over to her desk and sat down. It certainly wasn't the first time she felt excluded when they were involved in coding or hacking or whatever computer espionage she assumed they were engaged in, but to not even fill her in on the particulars? Surely she could help with profiling or planning how to find their way past whoever might be impeding the goal of their mission. Despite his low EQ, Walter had always made sure Paige felt important to the team. He had gone out of his way to do so on several occasions, which meant the world to her and she found incredibly sweet. Today he was making her feel like the others had on her first day of officially working for Scorpion.

She looked around for Cabe, who would maybe be able to catch her up, but he was nowhere to be found. She spotted Toby who looked equally immersed in scrolling through a database and ogling Happy every few moments. She was starting to become a little paranoid.

-ooo-

After returning from the grocery store, Paige spent over an hour in the kitchen preparing sandwiches, chopping vegetables for a pasta salad, and baking brownies. She was hoping the sweet smell of warm chocolate would be enough to entice everyone to take a break for an early lunch for at least a few minutes.

Sure enough, Toby was the first to indulge, even remembering to thank Paige profusely between mouthfuls of everything. Happy was next, grabbing a quick sandwich, giving Paige a nod and returning to her work area. Sylvester set a new record for himself, limiting his washing up to under 5 minutes and sat down to the table, eager to dig and complimenting her after the first bite. Paige started to feel a little better. Her colleagues were busy, but not intentionally giving her the cold shoulder. The only icy blasts she was still receiving were of course from Walter. She decided she would sit down and join the mathematician when Walter called out for him.

"Sly, I really need you over here _now_."

Sylvester froze in mid-bite and frowned. He slowly rose, moving his hand toward a brownie to gulp down or save for later, Paige put her hand on his shoulder and gently pushed him back into his seat.

"Eat," she insisted firmly. "I'll go see what Walter needs."

She fixed a smile on her face and strode over to Walter, who of course, continued to ignore her.

"Walter?" she said and waited for a response.

Nothing.

"Walter," she said more sternly. "The team needs a little break. Especially Sylvester whom you know worries about his blood sugar levels." She paused as she watched him tune her out. She took a deep breath and continued. "You could use a break too, you know. I know for a fact that you operate less efficiently on an empty stomach."

Silence.

Determined, she kept insisting, "Come on – five minutes." She moved closer to him and placed her hand on his shoulder. "I got your—" Walter jumped away from her, flinging her hand off of him as if she had burnt him. Paige stepped back several feet with wide eyes "—favorite…" she weakly trailed off.

"You – you shouldn't be here right now!" Walter yelled, causing everyone to stop what they were doing and stare at the pair.

Paige felt her eyes well with tears. She had no idea how to respond.

"You – your lunch – you are distracting me," Walter paused as he realized his admission, quickly correcting himself. "The team," he breathed angrily. "You are distracting the team." He had delivered his whole tirade to the floor. Now, he flung himself around to face the wall, running his fingers through his hair and continuing in a quieter voice that almost made him sound more volatile. "We don't need you for this mission, Paige. You don't even know what case we're working on—"

"Because I didn't realize I needed to be here early! You didn't tell me! You won't even look at me! What is going on, Walter?" She hated that her voice came out higher than usual and made her sound whiny and defensive.

Walter remained with his back to her and was silent. Paige looked at her three colleagues, her friends, questioningly for some clue as to what she must have done. Sylvester held up his hands in innocence, Happy raised her eyebrows and shook her head. Toby however, was looking at Walter with a mix of incredulity and skepticism.

"Paige, please just go," came Walter's eerily calm voice eventually.

"Fine," Paige sniffed. "I'll just put the food in the fridge in case anyone is hungry later." She looked again at her teammates who still looked as baffled as she was before dropping her head so her hair would curtain the sides of her face and hide her tears. She walked briskly into the kitchen to attempt the world's fastest clean up so she could get the hell out of there.

As she scrubbed and dried and wrapped up the food, setting aside a few brownies to take home to Ralph, she was too lost in her own thoughts to tune into anything else going on in the garage until she heard a loud crash and Walter yelling, "Get the hell away from me!" She looked up to catch him bolting up to the loft, taking the steps two at a time. As she quickly glanced around, she easily deduced that Toby had been on the receiving end this time. After Walter slammed the door to the loft, Toby turned and walked over to Paige.

He took one look at her tear-stained face and patted her on the back. "Come on," he said. "I'll walk you to your car."

Once they were out of the garage, Toby asked, "So I'm guessing you don't know what crawled up 197's ass either?"

Paige shook her head. "Everything was fine when he picked up Ralph on Saturday for the meteor shower." She pulled at a strand of her hair, twisting it around her finger nervously. "When I saw them again on Sunday morning, he barely spoke to me or Ralph." She recounted the awkward breakfast debacle.

Toby raised his eyebrows. "I wish I could have seen that," he chuckled.

Paige smiled and sighed. "Hopefully one day, we'll all look back on that morning and have a good laugh. But right now..." she trailed off as her eyes welled with tears again.

"So you're saying you had absolutely zero interaction with him between the Saturday pick-up and Sunday morning?" Toby asked.

"Not even a text message," Paige responded. "I really thought he must have been sick, but today he seems really – angry with _me_ and _only_ me now and I don't know why." More tears fell down her cheeks. "According to Ralph, they had a really good time on Saturday. I don't understand, Toby." She dug around in her bag for a tissue.

Toby pulled her in for a loose hug. "I'm going to go back in and do some investigating that has nothing to do with the case we are working on." He took a few steps back toward the garage. "I'll pick Happy and Sylvester's brains while our fearless leader cools off and then I'll try to have him come down for some couch time." He put his hand on the door to their workplace. "In the meantime, see if you can get more out of Ralph when he comes home from school. I know he's about as forthcoming with details as grumpy pants up there, but try asking him specific questions and see if that gets you anywhere." He pulled the door open and tipped his hat to her. "I'll text you later."

-ooo-

Once Ralph was home from school, Paige resisted the urge to begin interrogating him. He was already disappointed they weren't stopping by the garage, but Paige had mollified him with the promise of brownies after dinner. She made sure he did his homework, asked him some casual questions about his day as they ate, and tried to decide how to begin her line of questioning.

After a few questions and responses that had gotten her nowhere, Paige decided to level with her son.

"Ralph, Walter seems really upset with me. Did you maybe say something about me on Saturday night that would have given him reason to be mad?" She ruffled his hair reassuringly. "It's ok if you did, I'm just trying to figure this out. Can you tell me?"

Ralph rolled his eyes and cocked his head, giving his mother a look of mild disgust. "No offense mom, but you told us it was a 'guys' night,' remember? That means no talking about girls. Not even you."

Paige bit her lip to suppress a smile as she realized she'd just seen a glimpse of preteen logic. Her son might be a genius, but boys were still boys. She almost giggled at the image of the three of her men on the roof Saturday night with a sign that said, "No Girls Allowed."

Ralph was almost finished with his second brownie and she was still completely clueless about what could possibly be going on in the mind of Walter O'Brien. That wasn't an entirely new feeling for her of course, but she was more puzzled than usual. She stood and started clearing the dinner plates. "I just don't understand, Ralph. He seemed fine when he picked you up, and then really off with me ever since." She turned on the sink. "I keep replaying our last conversation, but I don't see how discussing brushing your teeth and s'mores could possibly have set him off."

Ralph was still seated at the table when she heard him say, "What'd you guys talk about when he came back for my bag?"

Paige dropped the dish she'd been rinsing in the sink.

She turned off the water and slowly faced her son. "What did you just say, honey?"

Ralph shrugged. "I forgot my overnight bag in my room, so on our way back from the store, Walter came up to get it for me, remember?"

It started to occur to Paige that Ralph had left their home with one bag, but it was two bags that were waiting for them on her desk when they went to check on Walter after breakfast on Sunday. "Walter-" she started and then stopped, completely bewildered. She tried again, "Walter came back to the condo?"

"Mom. You were here. I saw your car in the lot." He was speaking to her slowly as if she were a small child to whom he was trying to explain quantum physics. "I was afraid you'd be mad at me for being irresponsible, so I asked Walter to get it instead."

Paige's mind was nowhere near a lecture on responsibility right now. She was replaying her evening, wondering what could have prevented her from hearing him knock on the door and actually entering her apartment without her knowledge. Had she been asleep?

"Ralph, wh-what time was that?" she inquired. A potential scenario was beginning to dawn on her. She was trying to remain calm.

Ralph sighed and stood up from the table, getting bored with the conversation and happy to have oddly avoided a sermon on accountability.

"7:17," he said and walked out of the kitchen.

 _7:17._ The movie she had watched ended at 7, she was sure of it. After the movie, she took a bath. The more she walked herself through her exact movements of that night, the more horrified she became. She put her hand over her mouth and said, "Oh my god." She stood frozen, in shock as she wondered…it sort of made sense….

"No. Not possible," she muttered out loud again, but she continued to ponder the scenario as she slowly returned to the dishes in the sink.

 **The big reveal is on its way! Thank you so much for any review – big or little. They make me do a little happy dance!**


	5. Chapter 5

**AGOG Chapter 5**

 **Am having such fun writing this! Hope you are enjoying it too. Thank you for the reviews and suggestions. They make my heart happy.**

 **This chapter is still a little angsty. Fluffier stuff ahead.**

 **Hoping to add another chapter on Wednesday that may have an M-ish rating and the final one on Friday? A gal can try anyway….**

Toby had sent three text messages to Paige that night:

 _Made zero progress with our resident grouch. I will try again with cranky pants early tomorrow AM._

 _You may want to come in a little late._

 _And bring bagels._

Paige had decided to keep her recent potential revelation to herself. After all, she could be completely wrong about what could be causing Walter to act the way her was. In fact, she really hoped she was wrong, because she might very well die from embarrassment if he'd…. _"Nope. Not possible,"_ she told herself for the hundredth time that evening. Whatever was going on with Walter would be easier to deal with than – _that._

-ooo-

The next morning, Toby arrived early at Scorpion headquarters with a spring in his step. Paige and Sylvester might not be immune to Walter's temper tantrums, but most of the bullshit that their crusty commander spewed bounced right off of the shrink's shoulders.

Toby analyzed Walter's actions from the day before: Walter had repeatedly insisted the preparations for the case they'd supposedly caught were incredibly time-sensitive, insisting on "no work place shenanigans" and their "utmost focus," and yet he had no problem holing up in the loft for a better part of the afternoon. If Walt didn't want Happy to call him out on making them all come in early yesterday, only to pull a disappearing act before noon, he'd make sure it was obvious to the team that he'd been up all night working on the case. Toby suspected 197 was likely up all night all right, but probably spent most of it stewing over his mysterious malady. At any rate, he suspected Walter would be awake early, whether it be for show or distraction.

When he entered the garage, he gave himself round of mental applause as he found Walter seated at his desk, as predicted, typing at high speed. His eyes were bloodshot. He'd obviously been starting at the screen all night or close to it. Toby noticed he had managed to apparently shower and change clothes, and though he still looked more haggard than usual, he could even smell coffee brewing.

 _Thank god._ He sniffed, not detecting the sweetness of the cinnamon they'd gotten used to stomaching. Come to think of it, their coffee had been cinnamon-free all week. _"He's trying not to think about her,"_ Toby realized.

"Dr. Tobias M. Curtis reporting for duty," he called out and strode purposefully to Walter's desk.

"Good," Walter paused to take a deep sip of coffee, draining his mug as he searched for a folder. "I need you to cross examine the intel you gathered yesterday with these new—"

"Ah-ah-ah," Toby wagged his finger at him.

Walter glowered at him. "Do I need to remind you of the-"

"Time-sensitive nature of this bullshit case you've got us working on?" the shrink interrupted. Toby continued right over him as Walter started to counter with what he was certain was going to be a well-rehearsed defense.

He perched on Walter's desk. "Please Walt, I'm Harvard trained remember? I can see right through this flimsy workaholic avoidance strategy you've concocted. I did not cut my beauty sleep short today to help you bury yourself in work. I'm here to help you face whatever demons you've invented straight on."

"Typical," Walter huffed as he slammed the folder on his desk and stormed off to the kitchen for more coffee.

Toby of course was right on his heels.

"Out with it already! Do I need to run through a list of your irrational behaviors this past week? I had to talk Happy out of clobbering you with a pipe wrench after your outburst had Paige _and_ Sylvester in tears yesterday. You're clearly distraught about something that happened, and it obviously has to do with Paige."

Walter stared at the counter and inhaled deeply before getting ready to protest.

But Toby dived back in. "Before you say anything, let me just point out that you went thermonuclear on her yesterday for absolutely no reason and you're even closing yourself off from Ralph. My degree may be in psychiatry, but I had to complete a round of proctology, so I am more than capable of helping you pull your head out of your-"

"TOBY!" Walter bellowed, slamming his fists so hard on the counter that it shook.

"WALTER!" Toby yelled right back and gestured to his own body. "You can't see it, but I am wearing my invisible shit-storm shield today, so bring it on!" He stretched his arms out wide for emphasis. "You're being impossible! You're taking it out on the whole team, but most of all on Paige. She has no idea what she could have done. You made her cry at least twice yesterday. WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!?"

As Toby finished his tirade, he straightened his shirt. To his surprise, Walter actually turned and faced him, not with a cocked fist, but with slumped shoulders and a look on his face that was – _shame?_ He waited, sensing a break through and actually took a beat to feel sorry for his emotionally ill-equipped friend.

"I'm sorry," Walter whispered. Toby's eyebrows shot up. Apologies from Walter O'Brien were pretty rare.

"Hey, it's ok," Toby clasped Walter's shoulder. "We all get a couple of 'Dick-for-a-Day' passes each year. You just happened to use yours three days in a row." He slid his butt up on the counter and gestured for Walter to do the same. "Now let's talk. Seriously bro, the team won't be here for another hour. Now, what happened?"

"Doctor-patient privilege?" Walter asked uncertainly, leaning on the opposite counter warily instead and crossing his arms.

Toby held up his right hand and placed his left on an imaginary bible. "And I won't even charge you," he said.

-ooo-

Paige woke up early. She had arranged the carpool to pick up Ralph at home, rather than work. He was becoming increasingly impatient about not reporting to Scorpion to see his friends, but she was determined to resolve that issue today. She had spent a little extra time primping herself up for work. She had opted for a salmon colored sundress and sandals, figuring she would be likely relegated to desk duty and not out dodging bullets or saving the world. She put on shiny matching lip-gloss but went easy on the mascara just in case more tears threatened to fall today.

As she looked at herself in the mirror, she couldn't ignore the butterflies in her stomach. Could it be possible? Had Walter O'Brien, the subject of her fantasies for over two years, seen her naked that night? The time frame deemed it certainly feasible, but she had only stepped out of her room for the briefest of moments. What were the chances? She was sure Sly could spit out the odds on that one, but was mortified at the thought of anyone else in the world – on or off of the team considering that scenario.

It's not that she was a total prude or in any way ashamed of her body, it was just, well, _private_ to her. She would love to share the most intimate parts of her with Walter if the opportunity ever presented itself, but for it to happen like this? Her cheeks flamed. It couldn't happen this way. She knew she was over-thinking and over-feeling this, but it just had to be something else. _"Maybe something that doesn't even have to do directly with you, Conceited,"_ she told herself.

She took a breath and marched into the living room to Ralph who was sulking over his tablet.

"Cell phone?" she requested and held out her hand. Ralph reached into his pocket and placed it in her palm without looking at her. She quickly set the timer for 30 minutes and sat on the couch next to him. "When this goes off, head down the lobby, ok?" She sighed when she received no response, but hadn't really expected one. "Mrs. Sanderson will be waiting for you. If you need anything between now and then, just call me." She kissed the top of his head. "I'm heading into work early to see if I can talk to Walter, ok? With a little luck, we'll see him this afternoon."

Ralph looked up, "Really?" He appeared hopeful.

"I'll try my very best, I promise," she honestly replied. "Lock the door behind me, ok?"

"K," was Ralph's only response, but he seemed a little happier.

Paige left to grab some bagels as per Toby's request. He had suggested she arrive late, but she was intending to still try to make it there before the rest of the team arrived. She was hopeful that Toby was as skilled as he boasted and that she and Walter would have a little time for a private conversation after his therapy session before settling into work that day.

-ooo-

When she pulled up to the garage, she immediately noticed both Toby and Walter's cars. She parked and unbuckled her seat belt. Emerging from the car, bagels in hand, she opened the door cautiously, not wanting to alert Walter to her presence if Toby had in fact gotten through to him and was in the midst of a counseling session.

She looked around – _silence._ Well, near silence. An instrument that's purpose was unfamiliar to her droned steadily and pretty loudly in the corner. Still, she didn't see anyone else on the ground floor for the moment. She breathed a sigh of relief. She had succeeded in arriving before the rest of the team.

 _"_ _Walter and Toby must be up in the loft,"_ she thought. She placed the bagels on her desk momentarily, draped the light sweater she'd grabbed at the last minute over her chair, and threw her purse in her desk drawer. Paige reclaimed the bagels and made her way toward the kitchen to grab some utensils for the cream cheese and butter along with some napkins.

She was just rounding the corner to the kitchen when she heard Toby exclaim, "YOU SAW HER COMPLETELY NAKED?!"

Paige dropped the bag of bagels and stood in the entranceway like a deer in headlights.

Both men froze and stared at her.

She placed one hand over her breasts as if they could see through her dress and the other flew up to her mouth. "Oh my god - it's true?!" she squeaked. Every part of her body blushed the same color of her dress. She looked away and moved her hands up to her cheeks that were so suddenly so warm with embarrassment.

She couldn't look at either of them.

Toby recovered first, "Paige," he began, sliding off the counter. "I understand that you're embarrassed, but if we all sit down and talk about it-"

"Talk about it?" she asked incredulously. She gestured toward Walter, though she kept her eyes on the floor. "He hasn't even looked at me in three days because he's so appalled at what he saw and you want me to stay and talk about it?!" She flew to her desk to grab her purse.

She had to get out of there.

She knew she was being irrational, but she didn't care.

She did the same thing Walter did at the diner on Sunday.

She bolted.

"Paige - wait," Walter finally managed as she was running out the door and started to stride toward her.

"Walt," Toby put a hand on his shoulder. "Give her a little space right now. Think about how you've been handling this for four days."

Walter stopped to consider this. They were both correct. He hadn't been able to look at her since the day at the diner. He had feigned nearly 36 hours of illness so he wouldn't have to deal with her at all. He'd barely slept since. When he did, he dreamt of her, nude, of course. Sometimes she was just standing in the hallway, surprised by his presence, but not turning away. Sometimes she would tantalize him by slowly sauntering toward him and take her time undressing him as well…

And when he'd returned to work, he made sure _he_ had plenty of work to keep busy. Anything to avoid his ultimate distraction. And, he had to admit, he'd been a jerk to the rest of his teammates as well by keeping them overly occupied, criticizing them at every turn, just because _he_ was miserable. He'd also been purposely keeping Paige out of the loop so she would hopefully self-isolate, and he wouldn't need to be the one to directly push her away. Although he'd done exactly that.

And still, she came into work today, looking as pretty as ever, (his mind finally registering that she was wearing a dress instead of her birthday suit) determined to do her job, no matter how distant or childish he'd been acting. She didn't deserve to be treated like this.

"Paige has a fully developed EQ - she'll calm down. She just needs a moment to process something this…personal," Toby continued. "Now, level with me. Which part of this is bothering you so much?"

Walter chewed on the side of his mouth as he tried to pinpoint the exact source of his anxiety.

Upon receiving no response, Toby decided to break it down for him. "Is it: One – you feel you may have betrayed her trust because you entered her apartment without her consent?"

He didn't wait for a response.

"No, because you did everything right – you asked Ralph to send her a text, you thought he did, you knocked first, and you had every intention of being in and out."

Toby continued, "Let's go for option two – you are worried she would think you were a total dirt bag for not alerting her to the fact that you saw her the moment it happened." Walter began to explain that after initially freezing, he didn't want to frighten her, but Toby cut him off again with an annoying buzzer sounding noise he produced.

"Wrong! You were never going to tell her it happened in the first place! Why would you be worried about how she would react if she found out? Granted, that is maybe a discussion point we should pursue _now_ …" he trailed off, sensing he was losing credibility.

Walter glared at him. "Remind me how talking to you is supposed to be helpful again?"

Toby just rolled his eyes and bent to pick up a lone runaway bagel that had rolled across the garage floor like tumbleweed after the grand reveal (actually the _reveal_ of the grand reveal, now that he came to think of it). He grabbed it, dusted it off, sniffed it, made a face and made a lay up motion to toss it into the sink, missing by several inches. It rolled behind the refrigerator.

He turned back to Walter, "Because you're waiting for me to reveal what's behind door number three," he grinned.

"You've been dreaming of Paige au naturel probably since the day that we met her. You've been trying your damndest to deny any attraction to her, mostly unsuccessfully I may add." Toby was now pacing back and forth, lecture style.

"But now that you've seen a glimpse of her in all her glory, you're not sure if you can pretend your feelings, yes, Walter, _feelings,_ don't exist." He paused for emphasis. "Seeing _her_ naked, is making _you_ feel more exposed."

"Am I right?" Toby held his arms out wide as if anticipating a standing ovation. Walter's shoulders merely slumped and he dropped his head. Of course the shrink was annoyingly accurate.

"When's the last time you actually slept, Walter?" Toby asked, becoming serious again. "Or shaved for that matter. I get that women dig the five o'clock shadow look, but you're giving my beard some serious competition now." He put his arm around his friend, shoving a bagel in his hand and walking him toward the stairs to the loft. "Have a bagel. Go upstairs. Get some rest while she takes a little time to process all this. I'll make sure the team keeps working and we'll talk again when you're up."

Of course Toby had no intention of having the team continue to work on this sham of a project, but he was excited to try out the latest "Just Dance" with Sylvester. And if he convinced Happy to shake her groove thing, or at the very least, let her watch him shake his, all the better. They could keep the volume down while Walter got some much-needed rest. Based on both Walter and Paige's reactions, the poor guy was going to need it.

 **Just a reminder the next chapter will likely have an M rating. Thanks for reading! Please feel free to review! I'd really love that!**


	6. Chapter 6

**AGOG Chapter 6.**

 **I'm so glad you are reading this story! I love reading reviews! Thank you so much!**

 **So a few reviews back, Debbydq made a really fantastic suggestion on how this story could continue. I love it, and though it seems pretty out of character for poor Walt, I had to try to incorporate it! I hope you appreciate her suggestion as much as I do! Thanks Debbydq!**

 **This chapter will be rated lightly M. If that's not for you, please skip this chapter and join me again in chapter 7. I will attempt to make the story work with or without this chapter. It's hopefully silly, saucy fun! Speaking of the last chapter, I unfortunately have to report it will most likely not be posted as quickly as I'd hoped. So sorry about that, but I promise to finish the story before the end of the summer.**

After Toby had insisted he attempt to get some sleep, Walter had trudged up to the loft, stripped off his pants and button-down shirt and got into bed. He stared at the ceiling.

He contemplated all of the things Toby had just called him out on. He worried about how he would make things right with Paige; how they could move pass this embarrassing debacle and, dare he hoped, even move forward. He wondered what she was doing right now. He thought about how beautiful, but hurt she looked today when she accidentally overheard his confession. He thought about everything Paige. Every time his thoughts traveled in an inappropriate direction, he forced them back on track. She deserved that.

 _"_ _He hasn't even looked at me in three days because he's so appalled at what he saw and you want me to stay and talk about it?!"_

He cringed as he replayed her earlier outburst.

He needed to figure out what to say to her. He needed to make sure she knew she was beautiful. How could she possibly think he was appalled at anything other than his own invasion of her privacy? Or is that what she meant? He began to catalogue every possible reaction she would have to their impending conversation. Visions of Paige crying or yelling made him feel physically ill, but he couldn't rule them out as a potential outcome. He tried conjuring images of the two of them speaking calmly, or her letting him hold her, or him finally confessing his feelings for her and Paige smiling shyly and telling him she felt the same way, or….

And his mind continue to generate various scenarios, he eventually drifted off to sleep.

-ooo-

The last thing Walter O'Brien expected to wake up to after finally dozing off, was Paige Dineen.

She was kneeling by the side of his bed, running her fingers gently through his dark curls and smiling, _(was that seductively?)_ at him.

"P-Paige," he stuttered groggily, wondering if he'd dreamt the last four days. This was not one of the potential outcomes he'd been anticipating. "What are you doing here?" He slowly sat himself up on an elbow.

"Well," she cooed softly, now running her thumb gently across his cheekbone. "It seems we have a lot to talk about." She cocked her head and gave him another sultry smile. "Wouldn't you agree?"

Walter allowed himself exactly 7 seconds of enjoying the sensation of her hand on his cheek before he made himself sit up and swing his legs over the side of the bed. Reality quickly set back in, and he was suddenly very aware that he was clad only in his boxer briefs and a white undershirt.

Paige stood and made an obvious show of looking him up and down, even licking her glossy lips that matched the flowy coral colored dress she was still wearing. Walter self-consciously pulled the covers around him. Paige giggled and grabbed his hand, pulling him to a standing position and letting the bed sheets slip away.

"Come on, Walter. Don't be shy. We can still have a very professional conversation with you in your underwear, don't you think? I mean, after all…" She smirked and started to walk out of his bedroom.

He was pretty uncertain of his ability to engage in professional dialogue right now. Paige was definitely behaving very uncharacteristically, but he followed her. He owed her that much and more. He was nervous and insecure, but his state of undress had only a marginal influence on his insecurity right now.

She sighed and looked out the window, the soft light of the afternoon illuminating her angelically. "So," she began straightforwardly. "You were in my condo on Saturday night." She turned her head and looked him directly in the eye.

Walter was determined not to look away. He'd been doing enough of that all week. "Yes," he said simply.

"And," she continued, raising an eyebrow, "I was about to get into the tub when you arrived?"

"I – I thought that y-you were already in the tub," he stammered. "I tried knocking, b—"

"But I didn't answer and so you thought you'd just come on in, grab what you needed, and be on your way, right?" She batted her eyelashes a little as she spoke.

 _Wasn't that supposed to be a flirtation marker? Wasn't she supposed to be mad at him?_ This was very shaky ground he was treading on. Walter was unsure of how to proceed. He only knew he needed to do so with caution.

"Right," he admitted, bracing himself for an outburst of tears or anger.

"But instead, you happened to see me - without a stitch of clothing on," she emphasized those last six words, "while I went to get my bubble bath?" Her eyes were wide and her head was tilted to the side, waiting for him to respond.

"I-I didn't m-mean to invade you pr-privacy." It was becoming difficult to speak or even breath. His instincts told him to turn away, but another part of him couldn't stop looking at her, picturing that glorious moment again. He blushed, but held her gaze.

"Yes or no, Walter?" she baited.

"Yes," he admitted.

"I see." She blushed a little herself and then took a few steps toward him. "So I guess I have another question for you then." She stopped standing only a few inches from him and wrapped her arms around his neck.

He was taken aback by her forwardness.

He was overwhelmed by her closeness, but didn't want her to move anything but closer to him.

He was dropping his eyes to her lips, allowing himself to enjoy the haziness that was forming around him, and even started to succumb to it.

He was completely unprepared for her next question.

"Did you like what you saw, Walter O'Brien?"

He inhaled sharply and focused his eyes upward back to hers. _"Was this a trick?"_ he wondered. But she was staring up at him in complete seriousness, blinking her eyes again and waiting for his response.

 _How could he begin?_ He didn't want her to think she was just an object to him, but he didn't want her to think that her body was anything but perfect to him either. Her naked silhouette alone outshone every one of his many fantasies about her. And as he analyzed every detail of his brief glimpse, he knew without a doubt, that he would never see a sight more beautiful than Paige Dineen's body.

She was so close to him now. He could smell her sweet lavender scent and feel the warmth of her body soothing and arousing his at the same time. And she was waiting for an answer.

"Yes," he whispered plainly.

She ducked her head and blushed again, but giggled too. He loved the sound of her laugh and allowed himself a small smile.

"I'm glad," she whispered back.

Relief washed over Walter. Had his inadvertent blunder actually resulted in some sort of miraculous break through in their relationship?! As he allowed himself that hope of all hopes, she took a few steps back. He missed her proximity immediately.

She crossed her arms over her chest. "I'll admit I was a little embarrassed when I first found out, but the more I thought about it, I started to come up with a solution to that," she waited to see if he would respond.

He didn't.

"You don't think I should feel ashamed of my body, do you, Walter?" she asked in a small, but sexy voice, her arms still covering her chest as if she were covering herself, or holding herself, afraid of his response.

"Absolutely not," he blurted out quickly.

She looked down for a moment. "You don't want to keep going like we have been this week – not talking, not even looking at me? You don't want to keep pushing me away, do you?"

It sounded like she was pleading with him. He needed to make her understand.

"No. Paige, I-"

"So then I guess there's only one thing left to talk about," she said dropping her arms and changing tack back to teasing. She raised an eyebrow, drawing her eyes back up to his.

"What's that?" Walter puzzled, feeling apprehensive again.

Paige stared at him sweetly, but unwaveringly.

"When I'm going to get to see you naked," she responded.

Walter wasn't sure if he paled or blushed. _Was she suggesting…?_ She couldn't be serious. "S-s-sorry?" he garbled.

"Well it's only fair, don't you think?" Paige purred. "I mean, we could play this coy and set up a time for me to 'accidentally' see you coming out of the shower or getting dressed in the morning and I wouldn't mind those scenarios one little bit." She sauntered back over to him and ran her hands up his arms.

"But," she continued. "We could even the odds right here and right now." She placed her hands behind his neck, playing with his curls again. "What do you think?" she breathed. He could feel her breath and possibly a ghost of her lips on his neck.

"Paige, that's ridiculous," Walter stated. He was starting to understand why she had felt so embarrassed at his inadvertent peeping tom act. She couldn't possibly just expect him to start stripping off his clothes in front of her right now?

She began to pout. "Things between us have just been so awkward the last few days, I thought you'd be willing to try to make me feel better." She sighed dramatically, dropped her hands, and started to move toward the door. "But I guess I was wrong." She turned as she put her hand on the doorknob and shrugged. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow, but maybe I need to take a few days to get some space between us."

"NO!" Walter suddenly shouted. He didn't want to lose her.

"Paige, please don't go. Let's talk about this. Surely there must be another solution." His mind began scrambling for one. Toby had suggested they could all sit down and talk together.

She started moving back toward him. "Why is my solution such a bad one?" she prompted, looking him up and down again. "You've been trying to develop your empathy, haven't you?" She put her finger on his shoulder and began walking in a circle around him, keeping her finger in contact with his shirt, tracing as she went. "What better way to walk a mile in _my_ shoes than to step out of _your_ clothes?" She stopped in front of him and admired her view again.

Part of him was mortified. She must be out of her mind. There was no way he was doing this. He felt like he was losing in a stupid game of truth or dare.

And yet part of him was beginning to become aroused. She kept licking her lips. She kept scanning his body with her beautiful brown eyes. Surely, she wasn't playing a joke on him, right? He trusted her, but this whole idea was completely insane.

Sensing his hesitation, Paige offered a compromise. "I'll tell you what," she murmured. "For every piece you take off, I'll take one off. How does that sound?" She ran her fingers over his chest again.

Walter's jaw dropped. Part of him was yelling to accept her terms and another part was debating asking for a time out so he could put on a sweater, jeans, and several pairs of socks.

He had always envisioned a slow and gradual progression of a physical relationship when it came to her. Now she was proposing they both stand there in the nude in front of each other. _"And then what?"_ he scoffed to himself.

And then realized it might be the first time in his life when he'd asked a stupid question.

Still, he wanted to try and be honorable. "We-we haven't even really talked about everything. We haven't even _kissed_ yet," he began.

Paige's face lit up. "Is that all that's holding you back?" she teased. "We can fix that right now." She bunched a bit of his t-shirt in one hand and placed the other behind his neck to pull him forward.

She pressed her lips against his firmly. His mind was still reeling. As the initial shock wore off he slowly placed one of his hands in her hair, only mildly surprised that it was even silkier than he'd imagined. He placed his other hand on the small of her back, and memories of the dance they'd shared so long ago with her in that black, backless dress reminded him that indeed, he wanted to feel her smooth, bare flesh again.

She was running her tongue along his lips and he parted his own. She tasted so sweet. He wanted to taste more of her. He boldly moved his hand down to her backside and pushed her against him, pleased when she gasped at the feeling of him through her dress, and then forcefully returned to the kiss, her hands now starting to roam. Though no part of him wanted the kiss to end, he suddenly realized that taking off their clothes was exactly what he wanted to do right now.

He breathlessly tore away from her. "Ok," he rasped.

"Ok?" She looked at him quizzically, looking slightly undone, and then clarity appeared on her face along with a sly smile. "Ok, then," she responded. "You first?"

Walter opted to remove his undershirt, immediately envisioning how ridiculous he'd appear in a just a shirt without shorts.

Paige licked her lips again and placed her palms against his bare chest. A gesture he very much wanted to reciprocate as soon as possible. She placed light kisses against him and while one hand remained on his shoulder, the other moved down his abdomen to the trail of hair just below his navel. It tickled. He stood stock still, taking in every one of her touches. Now she was trailing her fingers on his back, over his shoulder blades and in fluttering motion down his spine.

"Your turn," Walter bravely stated, anxious for her to remove her dress and see the undergarments that waited beneath it.

Instead, she giggled and simply stepped out of her sandals.

Crestfallen, Walter started to panic again, hoping he wasn't the brunt of a cruel revenge scheme. But the kiss had felt so real. And he trusted her. Still, she was wearing _a lot_ more than he was right now, and his turn would leave him completely disrobed.

Sensing his hesitation, Paige ran her fingers under the waistband of his boxer briefs.

"You look so sexy in these," she whispered. "I've thought that since we found you in that hotel room before the Elia building opening." She pulled back just a few inches and looked him in the eye. Her eyes were glassy, pupils dilated. He detected no trace of anything but heightened arousal and sincerity.

"Can I help you out of them?" she asked in a low voice.

Walter could only nod and brace himself. She carefully expanded the elastic waistband to help ease the shorts down his hips without causing him any irritation. She let them go as she reached the bottom of his thighs and they dropped. And there he was. Fully naked in front of a fully dressed, albeit barefoot, Paige Dineen.

Her eyes remained on his, though she rested her hands on his chest again for a moment before they began their downward descent. She started massaging his hipbones with her hands, then moved them front so they lightly fluttered and stroked him. He was breathing heavily, feeling completely exposed, but not hating the sensation. He moved a hand to her dress and slid one strap off her shoulder. Her hands paused in their ministrations.

"That's right," she grinned slyly. "My turn."

Walter watched as she moved the other strap off her shoulder and wiggled the dress down her torso until it pooled at her feet.

To his complete and utter astonishment, she wasn't wearing anything beneath the dress.

"Surprise!" she whispered with a smile that was anything but shy.

"So beautiful," he whispered and watched her blush all the way down to her perfect breasts. He reached out to her and embraced her, pulling her bare body fully flush with his. He buried his face in her neck and her hair, not wanting to forget the sensation that was beauty and perfection and sexy incarnate against his body. He breathed deeply and let his hands begin to wander to her breasts. She arched against him and moaned, tilting her head back and whispering, "Walter…"

The next thing he knew, Walter was sitting bolt upright in bed. Panting and well, _throbbing,_ and nearly with a mess on his hands, well, _sheets,_ that he hadn't experienced since puberty.

 _Oh god. It was just a dream._

He was sweating. This dream was even more vivid than the last several hundred that he'd had. He could still hear her whispering his name. He had to talk to Paige. His feelings for her were obviously escalating.

He needed to make things ok between them.

He needed her to understand that he was anything but "appalled" as she had cried earlier, by what he had the privilege of seeing.

He needed her forgiveness….

He needed her.

-ooo-

30 minutes later a nearly clean-shaven Walter O'Brien jogged down the stairs. He was heading over to the Dineen residence to make things right. Certainly with Ralph, but also with Paige; with Paige and _him._ He only hoped she would let him inside, literally actually, so they could talk and he could make her understand. Not just about seeing her naked, but about how he felt about her and how she hopefully felt about him.

He spied her sweater draped on the back of her chair.

 _"_ _Now I at least have an opening,"_ he thought as he grabbed it and headed out the door.

 **Well? Thanks for reading and reviewing!**


	7. Chapter 7

**AGOG Chapter 7.**

 **I apologize for the delay. This was challenging to conclude...I was trying to keep it light and humorous, but Walter and Paige weren't entirely cooperating. I hope this ending is ok.**

Paige couldn't believe her eyes when she peered through the peephole and saw Walter O'Brien on the other side of the door to her condo.

After leaving the garage that morning, she had alternated between crying her eyes out from sheer embarrassment and chastising herself for behaving as ridiculously as Walter had been all week. She finally made herself a comforting cup of hot tea and sat on her sofa to try to pinpoint the reasons for her distress. She found herself making a mental list, and even chuckled as she realized she was likely approaching the understanding of her emotional state in a similar fashion to the way Walter would.

First on her list was the fact that her boss had seen her naked. While this was certainly cause for embarrassment, especially since Paige's body was so private to her, it wasn't insurmountable. After a few days of feeling hot in the face each time she saw him, things would likely go back to normal. It would probably just take a big case with some major distractions to make them both realize this was no big deal.

She took a sip of her tea. _On to the next point:_

Walter's reaction.

Although she didn't doubt for a moment that he was nearly as embarrassed as she was, it really didn't warrant him being so angry with her. He had really yelled at her in front of the team yesterday and had barely looked at her since Saturday. While she hoped those were just his inept coping skills shining through, she couldn't stop a bit of insecurity from leaking out.

She suspected he still carried feelings for her, just as she did for him, even if their mutual admission had occurred months and months ago and they both agreed to remain professional colleagues. There had just been too many, albeit unspoken and then completely ignored, tender moments between the two of them ever since. Walter's aversion to touch made her believe he likely had limited experience with the female body, if any. What if he hated how she looked? What if he was pushing her away because he wanted to make it clear to her that he didn't have those feelings now that he'd seen her in all her inglorious glory?

Paige and her body had gone through some awkward phases during adolescence creating a serious lack of confidence and resulting in her even teetering on having an eating disorder. Of course this had been years ago, and Paige had thought those ugly thoughts about herself had vanished forever. A tear rolled down her cheek as she allowed them to creep back in. How could she ever think she would be good enough for a man as intelligent, successful and handsome as Walter O'Brien?

She shook her head. She couldn't go there. _On to the final point:_

How much she had been fooling herself at any point during the last months to think she was or would soon be over her feelings for him.

Their whole relationship was so messed up. She'd been in a state of constant longing ever since they'd met. Is this how things would end between them? What about Ralph? He would be beyond devastated. What about her job? She didn't think Walter would ask her to leave over this, but could she really tolerate working with him day in and day out? On the hardest days, she would tell herself that she needed to make it work at Scorpion for Ralph's benefit. And while she loved her son with all her heart and still believed that to be true, she also realized she hadn't been totally honest with herself. Hope was an amazing and dangerous thing. The fantasy that she'd been having about her and Walter getting together had made her want to keep hoping, keep trying, even though every time she thought, she _hoped_ , they'd gotten closer, he'd pull away again. The thing that makes a fantasy great is the possibility that it might come true. If she'd lost that possibility….

She would still make it work for Ralph. That was an easy answer. But when she thought about how potentially miserable she would be for the foreseeable future, she couldn't help but cry again.

She had pulled herself together to pick up Ralph from school, but when an argument between them ensued about going back to the garage, she'd had to pull the car over so she could have another mini-meltdown. Ralph had immediately grown silent. After a few moments, Paige made herself breathe, reminded herself that she was likely blowing things out of proportion, and carefully pulled back onto the road again.

Neither of them spoke until they were inside the condo, when Ralph turned to his mother and said, "Are you ok?"

Paige pulled him in for a hug and promised him she would be. When she released him, Ralph looked down and murmured, "I'm sorry I yelled at you. I just really miss my friends." He had shuffled sadly into his room.

They had spent the evening each in their own rooms, wallowing in their separate despairs. Paige had surfaced to offer him some frozen pizza for dinner, all she really felt up for making, but Ralph declined, insisting he wasn't hungry. She didn't push him. She wasn't hungry either although she hadn't eaten all day. She knew she should comfort her son. She knew she should put her own pride and feelings aside and call Walter or at least promise Ralph that she would drop him off at the garage for a few hours, so he could at least see the rest of the gang, even if Walter hadn't managed to pull his head out of his ass yet. But she was tired. The conversation was going to have to wait until morning. She headed to her room to put on some pjs and lay down.

An hour later, there was a knock at the door.

After peering through the peephole, Paige stepped back from the door. She couldn't bring herself to open it. She wasn't ready for this conversation. But there was no reason Ralph couldn't enjoy seeing his mentor for a few minutes. He would really like that. There wasn't any point in both of them being miserable.

"Ralph?" she called. She wasn't sure if he'd gone to bed. "Someone is here to see you."

Not two seconds later, Ralph's bedroom door cracked open. "Is it Walter?" he asked. And there was hope again, etched all over his face.

Paige nodded. "I'll be in my room, ok? Don't stay up too late."

She jogged down the hall as Ralph bolted by her, undid the locks and flung open the door.

Walter was forced a few steps back out into the hallway and nearly knocked over by the force of Ralph's hug.

"Hey buddy," he laughed as he regained his balance and unawkwardly returned the hug. _Wow, he had really missed this kid._

"Mom won't take me to the garage anymore. I know you were sick, but she said you were better, so I don't understand," came Ralph's muffled voice from where his face was buried in Walter's shirt.

Walter knelt down. "I'm sorry, Ralph," Walter began earnestly. "I….we…" he trailed off, having no idea how to continue. Ralph pulled back and waited patiently.

"I haven't been myself the last few days. It's…complicated." Walter hoped the boy would let him leave it at that.

"Are you mad at me?" Ralph asked, and the expression on his face was so hurt and vulnerable that it made Walter's chest ache.

"Absolutely not!" He threw Paige's sweater he'd been holding over his shoulder and put his hands on the twelve year old's shoulders for emphasis. "None of this is your fault, Ralph." He looked him directly in the eye. "And it's not your mom's fault either, so don't be mad at her, ok?"

Ralph reluctantly nodded his head.

"I-is your mom here?" Walter asked, knowing she must be. Ralph nodded again, but looked disappointed. "She's in her room crying. She has been all night." He turned and shuffled into the condo. "I guess I'll leave you guys alone then." He walked dejectedly toward his room.

"Ralph – wait." Walter desperately wanted to talk to Paige, but he knew she would want Ralph to come first. In that moment, so did Walter. "How about a few video games? I came to see you too, you know."

Ralph instantly beamed. "You get everything set up and I'll heat up some pizza! I'm starving!" He hurried into the kitchen and Walter couldn't help but smile. At least he had salvaged one relationship so far tonight.

-oooo-

Ralph had handily crushed Walter in almost every game they played. Walter was hardly surprised. Although he was genuinely enjoying his time with the young genius, thoughts of his impending conversation with Paige were his main focus right now.

When 9 o'clock rolled around, Walter decided a mere 30 minutes past his bedtime deadline wouldn't hurt and continued allowing himself to get whooped by Ralph for the next half an hour. When he suggested it was time to turn in for the night, he promised Ralph that he would get to see the team one way or another the next day, and was surprised by another child size bear hug.

He hoped it was a promise Paige would let him keep.

"Thank you, Walter," was all Ralph whispered before going into his bedroom without argument and closing the door.

No more stalling. It was time to talk to Paige.

He hoped she was still awake.

He walked down the hallway to what he now knew for sure to be Paige's bedroom and knocked softly.

He wasn't surprised at the lack of response.

He recalled being in a very similar position outside of the condo just four nights ago. Then he had reasoned he should just let himself in. There was no way he was going to even touch the doorknob to her bedroom though. He'd learned his lesson. He was just going to have to be patient.

He knocked again. "Paige?" he called softly. "Are you still up?"

Silence.

"I'd really like to talk to you." He knocked again, weighing his options. Camping out on the sofa of the Dineen residence hardly seemed appropriate, but he didn't want to let the situation between them fester any longer.

He knocked louder. "Paige? I really think we need to talk. I – I – I'm sorry." Walter put his hands in his pockets as he looked down and continued. He hoped Ralph couldn't hear him. "I'm so sorry for – for everything," he stated genuinely but vaguely in case Ralph _could_ hear him. "I-if you could just let me in for a few minutes—"

"Come in."

Her voice was so soft he wasn't sure if he imagined it. He cautiously put his hand on the doorknob and opened the door just a crack.

"Paige?" He kept his eyes squeezed shut even though all that was visible through the tiny entrance was a sliver of dim light. "Did I hear you say 'come in'?"

"Yes, come in."

Walter slowly opened the door but kept his eyes closed for a moment.

"Walter, you're going to have to look at me again eventually," he heard her rasp.

His eyes flew open instantly.

She was sitting in her bed in a pink t-shirt with a blanket wrapped around her lap. Her hair was pulled up into a rare ponytail. He didn't take in too many details of her bedroom, though he'd often wondered what it looked like. Right now, he couldn't see anything but her. Her face was pink and her eyes were puffy. Crumpled tissues surrounded her. Tears still stained her cheeks.

And he was responsible for all of it. He hated himself in that moment.

He closed the door behind him and walked over to her. He wanted to put his arms around her and hold her close. He wanted to wipe away any tears that rolled down her cheeks. But right now even sitting on her bed felt too initimate. He had no idea what to do. He really hated himself right now.

"I'm sorry," he said again. He knew it wasn't enough, but it was a starting point. Like always, he hoped she would steer him in the right direction for this conversation.

Paige toyed with a tissue in her hands. "For which part exactly?" she sniffled.

"All of it," Walter replied simply.

"Right now I am going to need an itemized list," she snapped, irritation flitting across her face. "I need to know if you can even comprehend how or how much you hurt me."

 _Oh boy._ Walter decided to try easing down to sit on the edge of her mattress, near the foot of the bed. He lowered himself carefully, as if being instructed to do so at gunpoint. She didn't protest, just continued to glower at him. He supposed he preferred anger to crying, but he wasn't entirely sure.

He cautiously began. "For invading your privacy. For my behaviour for the last few days." He wondered if he should include disclosing their situation to Toby to the list of his indiscretions, but decided to see her reaction first.

Her face crumbled. "Walter why have you been so angry with me? I know you're embarrassed, hell, _I'm_ embarrassed, but why yell at me? Why banish me?" She was sobbing now. He wanted to go to her again, but still he hesitated.

Why hadn't he thought this through more? Of course she would want an explanation. How could he possibly respond? _That he wanted her out of sight because he kept picturing her naked? That yelling at her was easier than having this wretched conversation?_ He couldn't possibly rattle off Toby's prognosis.

"W-well?" she prompted between sobs.

"Because I'm inept," he blurted out. _Not a bad starting point really._ It was certainly true enough.

Paige rolled her eyes and snorted, wiping at her face.

"Because I felt terrible," he stated a little more strongly.

Paige actually threw herself back onto the pillow by her headboard, covered her face in her hands and replied with an only slightly muted shout. " _You_ feel terrible?!"

 _Ooooh boy. Mayday._ But Walter was getting frustrated too.

"Because I don't know how to have this conversation!" he shouted back.

Paige flung herself back up into a seated position and looked at him incredulously. "Then why the hell are you here, Walter?" she yelled.

Walter leapt up as if he was afraid of her. Well, he might have been a bit in that moment. Then it occurred to him. Why not start there?

"Because I'm afraid," he whispered, dropping his head. She didn't respond for a moment so after a beat, he continued.

"I don't know what else to do but be brutally honest with you right now, though I am terrified of your reaction," he began. He was pretty sure the only way out of this mess that he'd created was to lay it all out there. _All of it._

He began.

"I still have feelings for you. I-I think about you a lot, no almost all the time. I have, I have," he was beginning to breathe heavily. "I have had inappropriate, non-collegial thoughts about you."

He peeked up at her. Her mouth was slightly open and she was staring at him intently. She was no longer crying though and she no longer looked like she was going to throw something at him. He proceeded.

"I haven't said anything because I expect that you've moved on and I respect that. I can't lose you in my life Paige. You or Ralph. I know I have pushed you away. Repeatedly. I have no idea why you are still here. I got angry – I shut you out because once I saw _you_ ," he gestured toward her body, "my thoughts about you, well," he chuckled without a trace of humor, "to state that they intensified really does not adequately explain, but…." _Oh God, she was going to think he was a total pervert._

He sighed. He was completely unsurprised that he was messing this up, quite badly at that. But she at least had to know, _she deserved to know…._

"And this next part is probably even more grossly inappropriate than everything I just said to you," Walter said quietly, "But you should know that before Saturday I thought that you were the most beautiful person I'd ever met – both inside and out. But when I saw you on Saturday night….I realized that my idyllic fantasies about you didn't even come close to-to measuring up to- "

He sighed. "Paige, to me, you were already perfect. Now, I know you are more beautiful than I've ever could have imagined."

He choked up a bit, noting that she was rising from the bed, expecting a slap across the face or to be pushed out of the room. _God, he'd just admitted to fantasizing about her! Who does that?!_

What he didn't predict were her hands being placed on his arms that were now crossed tightly over his chest and Paige rising up on her tiptoes to kiss him ever so softly on the lips.

"Walter," she whispered, looking up at him with her big brown beautiful eyes. They were red and puffy now from everything he'd put her through, but they were still so beautiful. "You – you've fantasized about me? About us?" she asked shyly.

She wasn't looking at him as if she was assessing his aptitude for perversion. She was actually smiling softly at him, though sort of ducking her head in a sort of embarrassed way. He really didn't understand women.

"Yes," he laughed in admission. "You – you're not mad?"

Paige raised her eyebrows and took a step back, but her hands remained on his arms. "Oh, I'm still mad at you for pushing me away again. And for being rather mean about it by the way," she admonished, "But, I can't say I don't understand."

She broke her grasp on him and sat on the bed, patting the space next to her in invitation. He complied, almost holding his breath as she continued.

"I knew you were embarrassed by what happened. I guess part of me is just relieved that you didn't hate what you saw," she admitted.

"Are you kidding me?!" Walter gasped. He somewhat bravely grabbed for her hands. "How could you ever think that?" he questioned sincerely.

Paige raised only one eyebrow at him this time and he realized that for the second time that day _(even if the first one had been in a dream state)_ he'd asked a stupid question.

"I've been an ass," he muttered defeatedly, snatching his hands back and running one through his hair.

"Yes, you have been," Paige murmured as she replaced his hand with her own, gliding her fingers through his short curls and cupping his cheek. His breathing became shallow again. He loved her touch. Only her touch.

"Walter," she said again, dropping her hands and using them to pull her knees up under her chin.

He now registered that she was wearing what he assumed were matching pajama shorts. He noticed that they fell back around her thighs, nearly to her hipbones, as she curled her legs up under her, but remained quiet and made sure his eyes were trained on her face as she spoke. God, he really had a one-track mind when it came to her body, _but those long legs_ ….he jerked to attention as she began to speak again.

"I'm not a prude, at least I don't think I am, but my body is private to me. Outside of Drew – stop," she warned as Walter grimaced. She continued, eyeing him warily, "and a few doctors, no one has seen me naked to my knowledge. Drew wasn't my first, but he was my second and only other partner. I had a boyfriend in high school and we fumbled through sex a few times, but I was never completely naked with him." She stopped as Walter looked puzzled. "High school," she repeated. "You know – curfews, no privacy…." She shook her head as she remembered Walter had experienced anything but the normal "wonder years."

"Anyway," she went on, "to me, sharing my," she paused as she worked up the courage to say what she needed to say, "body – my nakedness, with someone, is really as intimate as having sex." She pressed her lips against her knees for a moment before she worked up the courage to finish what she'd started to say.

"I've still been thinking about you too, Walter," she finally admitted quietly. Her lip trembled again as she spoke. "I just don't understand why this has to be so difficult between us. I didn't want the first time you saw me like that to be a mistake." Her breath caught and she only partially held back a sob. "An embarrassment. A fight." She cried again and buried her head against her legs.

This time Walter put his arms around her and simply held her as she cried.

"It's my fault," he whispered as he rocked her. "It's this challenging because of me. I'm so sorry." But instead of pushing him away, Paige lowered her knees and swung them over his lap to his surprise, wrapping her arms around his torso and nestling her head in his chest. After just a moment, her crying abated.

"You're really good at this," she sniffed.

"Hardly," Walter scoffed, secure only in the fact that he'd botched quite a few things in their mysterious relationship this week alone.

"No," Paige said, turning her head to the side so her cheek rested on his chest instead. "I mean holding me. This feels really nice."

Walter allowed himself to swell slightly with pride and continued doing exactly what she wanted. As they cuddled together, a conversation continued. They talked about the things that had been holding them back, the pros and cons of a relationship in terms of Ralph and work, until both of them felt much, much better than they had a few hours ago.

They had even agreed to a first date, destination to be determined but on Friday night. Walter finally, regretfully stood and stretched, while Paige scooted back toward the headboard and allowed Walter to fix the covers around her.

He kissed her gently on the forehead whispered, "Good night and sweet dreams," to her before straightening when Paige suddenly perked back up.

"Ummm…Walter?" she grinned, propping herself up on an elbow.

"Yeah?" Walter asked as he noted how sweet she looked surrounded by blankets.

"I'm still feeling a little vulnerable about you having seen so much of me…." She trailed off, but grinned mischievously. Walter gulped.

"You know what would sort of even the odds for me?" She batted her eyelashes for effect and Walter reflected back on the dream he'd had earlier. _Surely she wouldn't…._ Walter blanched.

"I'd really like to hear about one of those fantasies you've had about me before you leave." Paige giggled as she said it, noting his adorable discomfort.

 _Ooooh boy._ Just when he thought he was more or less off the hook, here he was, back in dangerous territory.

"Just a little bit?" she pleaded flirtatiously. She patted a spot on the bed again.

He was in no position to say no to her, though he was distinctly discomfited right now. He cleared his throat. "You really want to know?"

"Absolutely."

"Y-you're sure? You won't think I'm um…a…a…"

 _Pervert?_

 _Deviant?_

 _Sex maniac?_

"…a…cr-creep?" he finally decided on.

She giggled again and crawled out from under the covers. Her t-shirt slipped off one shoulder as she crept toward him on her knees. She linked her arms around his neck and smiled.

"Why Walter O'Brien. What _have_ you been dreaming about?"

 **The end.**

 **Thanks so much for reading and reviewing! I'm enjoying so many of your stories so very much, so thanks for writing too!**


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